Count Your Blessings (Bing Crosby)

Friends don't let friends blog drunk... or at least buzzed (oh well!) - just back from the Wine and Food Festival, a lovely outdoor event for which my daughter Sarah bought tickets for the two of us... and we met up with her three best friends (and two of their moms) and enjoyed the outdoors, many sips of wine from various vendors and tastes of diverse dishes from local restauranteurs. Although I attempted to go outside my alcohol comfort zone, trying a few reds (shiraz, merlot, syrah), I'm most definitely a pinot grigio kinda woman - I also enjoyed checking out the different creative labels (Plungerhead... 7 Heavenly Chards... Bliss?... :-)

We had a most delightful Thanksgiving dinner Thursday, and we're still enjoying the leftovers - I was up until 1 a.m. last night/this morning making turkey soup, my tradition (especially for Eric) of boiling up the carcass, taking the meat off the bones, straining the broth and adding spinach fettucine noodles. Voila! - we eat it for days... and I'll send some back to college with E...

The day after Thanksgiving is known as Black Friday, when retail stores open at ungodly hours (4 a.m., I saw one advertised!) and people rush in droves to take advantage of priced-so-low-one-can't-resist sales - I am not a shopper by nature... but most especially on this frenzied occasion. I'm all for helping the economy - I'm also all for peace, relaxation and charity. I did, as I have every year for the last 10, attend the Lumpy Sue MusicFest... with my picnic basket, my low beach chairs and a mellow mood coursing through my veins (without benefit of the ritual mimosas until after we get settled) - I even won a raffle prize... a $25 gift certificate to a clothing store in Coconut Grove (entailing a future road trip... :-)

Lumpy Sue is a free concert that highlights local folk and acoustic musicians in a tranquil and relaxing setting. The festival organizers have created an atmosphere of family fun and friendship on a day that is otherwise one of retail frenzy. In an anti-mall anti-stress gesture, festival organizers have gathered musicians and their local fans for a day of mellow entertainment. Now in its 17th year, more people have discovered that it’s the perfect way to digest Thanksgiving dinner, and take an extra day of thanks for the great South Florida weather, the great people in our community and the great music our local talent has to offer. Moreover, it’s a chance to help a great cause.

In addition to offering some of the best musical talent, (past festivals have presented Diane Ward, Ellen Bukstel, Grant Livingston and Amy Carol Webb), the day also includes a raffle for great prizes, including fantastic dinners and hotel stays. 100% of the proceeds from raffle sales benefit Habitat For Humanity of Greater Miami, helping to build homes in partnership with deserving people right here in South Florida.

P.S. SMM...

SONG: Count Your Blessings by Bing Crosby

BOOK: The Overspent American: Why We Want What We Don't Need by Juliet B. Schor

POEM: A Deer in the Target by Robert Fanning

I only got a ten-second shot,

grainy footage of the huge deer

caught in the crosshairs

of a ceiling security camera, a scene

of utter chaos in a strip mall store,

shown on the late local news.

The beautiful beast clearly scared

to death in this fluorescent forest,

its once graceful legs giving out

on mopped floors, think Bambi

as a fawn its first time standing.

Seeing the scattering shoppers,

you'd think a demon had barged

into this temple of commerce,

as they sacrificed their merchandise,

stranded full carts and dove for cover.

And when the aisles were emptied

of these bargain hunters, who was left

but an army of brave red-shirted

team members, mobilized by

the store manager over the intercom

to drive this wild animal out.

I wager there's nothing on this

in the How to Approach

an Unsatisfied Shopper

section in the Target employee handbook,

but there they were: the cashiers

and stockers, the Floor Supervisor,

the Assistant Floor Supervisor,

the Store Manager,

the Assistant Store Manager,

the District Associate Manager,

the District Supervisor,

the District Assistant Supervisor

and visiting members from

the Regional Corporate Office,

running after it, it running after

them, bull's eye logos on their red golf shirts,

everyone frenzied and panting: razor hooves

clattering on the mirror-white floor tiles,

nostrils heaving, its rack clearing

off-season clothes from clearance racks.

All of them, in Target,

chasing the almighty buck.

QUOTE: "The best things in life aren't things." ~ Art Buchwald